Violet Siwela

Violet Siwela (26 April 1956 – 18 January 2024) was a South African politician from Mpumalanga. She was a Member of the National Assembly, where she chaired the Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development, and a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress (ANC). She served in the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature until May 2019.Born in Bushbuckridge, Siwela spent almost three decades as a teacher and primary school principal in Mpumalanga. She entered politics as a ward councillor for the ANC in the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality in 2000 and joined the provincial legislature in 2005. Between 2005 and 2019, she held a range of positions in the legislature, including as a member of the Mpumalanga Executive Council under Premier David Mabuza: she was Member of the Executive Council for Agriculture from 2013 to 2014 and Member of the Executive Council for Human Settlements from 2014 to 2016. Later, she served as Speaker of the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature from March 2018 until May 2019.

Quotes

• We believe that this fund is a good initiative by the Department of Small Business Development to bolster the tourism sector, as it has been negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The committee has always held a view that financial and non-financial support to the SMMEs by government should be industry-specific in order to address the felt need in a particular sector.
  • She said in an interview
• The committee will find a slot to invite both the department and Sefa to present their plans to implement the fund,”
  • She said in an interview